Many things we need can wait. The child cannot. Now is the time his bones are formed, his mind developed. To him we cannot say tomorrow, his name is today.
~ Gabriela Mistral
Parent's Bookshelf
On this page you will find titles and descriptions of adoption, international adoption, kinship and attachment themes for parents. If you would like to add a title, with or without a review, please contact MeFCA.
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Quirky Kids by Dr. Perri Klass and Dr. Eileen Costello. This book illuminates the confusing list of terms often applied to quirky children–from Asperger’s syndrome and nonverbal learning disability to obsessive-compulsive behavior and sensory integration dysfunction. The authors discuss therapy options, coping strategies, and medications. They help quirky kids lead rich, fulfilling lives at home, at school, and on the playground. |
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Russian Phrases for Children by Fred Des Chenes. Over 200 simple phrases/words, each spoken by a male and female native Russian speaker in Russian and English. Produced by an adoptive dad, who also worked facilitating adoptions for years. Professionally recorded CD. The phrase list was carefully chosen with input from hundreds of adoptive families and edited by a Russian linguist to ensure the best choices. |
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The Handbook of International Adoption Medicine: A Guide for Physicians, Parents, and Providers by Laurie C. Miller. An overview of the specialized medical and developmental issues that affect internationally adopted children, offering guidelines to physicians caring for these children and their families before, during, and after adoption. |
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The Russian Adoption Handbook by John H. Maclean. This book leads parents through the maze of how the international adoption process, how to start, what you need to know before traveling, making the most out of your trip, the children's homes, the courts, and the questions that need to be asked, medical issues, adoption doctors, and travel requirements, post adoption procedures, and much more. |
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Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin, Ph.D. A a gifted animal scientist who has designed one-third of all the livestock-handling facilities in the United States. Temple Grandin is autistic. Writing from the dual perspectivies of a scientist and an autistic person, she tells us how that autism is experienced and how she managed to breach its boundaries to function in the outside world. |
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The Language of Blood by Jane Jeong Trenka. A memoir of a young woman who was adopted by a family in Minnesota. It is a "brave exploration of her identity as a Korean adoptee and a pensive young woman trying to negotiate between two mothers and two lives." |
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Parenting the Hurt Child: Helping Families Heal and Grow by Gregory C. Keck and Regina Kupecky. Effective suggestions and advice for parents to of adopted or foster children who have suffered neglect or abuse. |
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The Primal Wound: Understanding the Adopted Child by Nancy Verrier. In its application of information about perinatal psychology, attachment, bonding and loss, this book clarifies the effects of separation from the birthmother on adopted children. It gives adoptees, whose pain has long been unacknowledged or misunderstood, validation for their feelings, as well as explanations for their behavior. |
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Toddler Adoption: The Weaver's Craft by Mary Hopkins-Best. A resource designed to help adopting parents and placing professionals involved in adoptions of children in the unique developmental stage from ages one to three. |
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Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew by Sherri Eldridge. Sherrie has thrown the light of appreciation and understanding on the unique issues that often lie buried in the corners of adoptees' lives. |
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Wanting a Daughter, Needing a Son: Abandonment, Adoption, and Orphanage Care in China by Kay Ann Johnson and Amy Klatzkin. Based on 12 years of field research, these essays by the China scholar Kay Johnson provide a detailed look at the Chinese side of abandonment and adoption. Proceeds benefit AIDS orphans in China. |